The present invention relates to an accessory system for a motor vehicle and in particular to a rail system for mounting accessories to a motor vehicle cargo area which has opposed upright side walls and an open top such as a pickup truck cargo box.
Owners of pickup trucks have always attached various accessories to the truck cargo box for many reasons including enhancing the vehicle appearance, making the cargo box more useful and protecting both the cargo box and cargo therein. One popular accessory is a tonneau cover to cover the cargo box open top and cargo. Bed rails are another accessory and are mounted to the upper end of the cargo box side walls to provide a handle, to protect the upper end of the side walls and to enhance the vehicle's appearance. Bicycle racks, ski racks, etc. have also been attached to cargo boxes to enable safe transport of bicycles, skis, etc. However, in the past, it has generally been impossible to install more than one of these devices at a given time on the cargo box. In other words, if a tonneau cover is present, it is not possible or practical to include bed rails on the cargo box or a bicycle rack, etc.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an accessory system for a pickup truck cargo box that mounts multiple accessories to the cargo box simultaneously.
The accessory system of the present invention utilizes two side attachment rails, one upon the upper end of each side wall of the cargo box. Front and rear rails are attached to the ends of the side rails forming a rectangular frame structure mounted at the top of the cargo box. The side rails extend generally the length of the vehicle cargo box. Once installed on the cargo box, the rails provide an inwardly open mounting channel to which various accessories can be attached to accommodate certain specialty cargo. For example, cross bars that extend across the cargo box are attached to the side rail's mounting channels. Bicycles, skis, surfboards, sail boards, etc. can be carried on the cross bars. Furthermore, cargo tie down anchors can be attached to the mounting channels to provide anchors for ropes to secure cargo within the cargo box.
In addition, the rails are configured to mount a tonneau cover to the rails which extends over the open cargo box. Previously, when a cargo box was covered with a tonneau cover, it was not possible to also install bed rails to the cargo box side walls. The side rails of the present invention provide for bed rail attachment to the side rails at a location outboard from the tonneau cover. Thus, both the tonneau cover and the bed rails can be simultaneously installed on the cargo box.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.